My Day Culling Sheep.

culling means picking out the weeded and “broken mouth” ewes in order to sell them because they are no longer productive or profitable. weeded means that they are barren and their utters are lumpy. (yes, i felt the difference). broken mouth means that they have gaps in their teeth which have fallen out due to old age and no longer can chew the grass. 

sheep peeing.

Eating grass, instead of feed, is cheaper for the farmer and healthier for the lamb.

chasing the sheep.

suffolk sheep are long with black faces and bad feet. 

texel sheep are heartier - short and wide - with a white face and best for the rump

hybrid vigor is a cross breed with the good points from both. the cross breed is a brown faced lamb. 

jacbo sheep have 4 horns!

wicklow chevlot sheep are good for breeding and produce around 3 lambs. 

run run. 

gartan lough - fields and lake.

if a cow is running towards you, stand still until the very last second and then step aside, out of the way. the cow will be running so fast and is so heavy that it won’t have the ability to turn so quickly. then as it runs off and slows down, you start running the other way!

into the pen

“spent” means weaning the lamb off from the ewe. 

cutting the nails so she can walk properly again. (yes, i refused to give it a go. toe nails freak me out).

sheep have toe nails! i don’t know why this surprised me. they used to naturally keep trimmed by walking on the roads but when they are in the grassy fields, the land is too soft so the farmer must clip them. if the nail grows too long it is painful for the sheep to walk on and sometimes gravel and dirt can get inside. 

yes, that is a toe nail. 

the lamb who got away. must've been hiding when they gathered up the last batch of lambs. 

16 October - 17 March - better grass in the spring time for the baby lambs to eat.

checking their teeth. 

you can tell a sheep’s age by the amount of teeth they have. 6 teeth reveals 3 years of age. 

showing me how the tail can get dirty if too long. 

when they are just born, lamb get a rubber band placed around their tail which causes it to not receive any blood so the tail will naturally fall off after a while. a long tail gets in the way, gets poopy dirty. 

“spring lamb” or “easter lamb” refers to the date of birth, not when it’s eaten. if it was born in christmas though, it would be ready for easter. 

the sheep shivered when i touched their wool. but apparently they are more used to humans in the winter when they are kept in the farm sheds and they are given nuts as snacks. 

sheep get sheared in june. apparently some farmers breed sheep just for their wool and rug making. 

wellies. and mud. and poop.

clean sneakers. and a tractor from the 60's.

dipped means that the sheep have to get sprayed against maggots. they also get a squirt in the mouth to kill stomach worms. (yes, i squirted one of the sheep).

off they go into the cart to be sold off. 

45 kilo is a good weight for the butcher because after he does all his butchering stuff, it usually leaves about 20 kilo of meat. 

Learning even when I'm not in class!!